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Thursday, January 21, 2010

A Dutch bike.

frenchie and the dutch

So once I passed New Montgomery, my thoughts were in caffeinated miles. While riding on Market st. I thought I'd stop to get coffee at Blue Bottle in the Ferry Building before heading back to meet my peeps at Four Barrel. Sounds extreme, but if you are one of us, coffee addicts, you'd understand. In the middle of all these coffee dazed thoughts orbiting my head, out of nowhere, I noticed two pretty bikes chillin' on the sidewalk. I said UH UH -wait a minute- ok those are Dutch bikes... mmhh yes.

Without a doubt, it was: My Dutch Bike -a bicycle company. Oh what do you know!?

hi willhe thinks this came out funny, but it's -oh so cute- :Dhi oscarI'll stop by to check out your espresso soon!

I couldn't believe the existing space that was home to the much missed Stacey's books was right here. Well, a bicycle retail space is much better than some upscale foofie fake Italian joint that claims to have the best of things popping outta nowhere. bleh. If you are in San Francisco, you know what I mean. Bikes are good. Very good. -anyways-

San Francisco's very own Dutch bicycle space. Very cool.I walk in and I'm greeted by Will, a mutual Flickr® friend and we chat. Bike, photos, chat. And Oscar, who knows my blog. How cool! I wonder if he's seen Adrienne's Bat, a true Dutch bike yacht. So, I said oh hey what's up, I check out the space, the bikes. I was rolling solo, so I didn't want to test any bikes, as there would be no one to crack up about me riding those cute monsters with.

They also have a blog in which, they post recent adventures to cities they travel to. At any rate, the space has good energy, Oscar scored some major points as a retail person in my books, by asking "Do you want any coffee? -we've got an little espresso machine" Oh gloriousssss.Well, if you are curious about the whole Dutch feeling, I recommend you check it out. The have a variety of colors, beautiful lively panniers, all these Crumpler bags I had no idea existed (basket bags with handles!) and Will and Oscar are two super mellow nice lads. Their store is located on 575 Market st. between 1st/2nd.

Retail space

My favorite two things? their bell selection, and a miniature bike the shop got as a gift - def. not for sale ;-)Well, of course - their bicycles are super as well. Cool -

Sometimes I feel a day late and a dollar short. Stacey's used to be my go-to book place during lunch or on my way to catch the bus home. Who could have foreseen just those few years ago that I was standing on the floor of what one day could possibly be one of my most hyggelig places of all time?!! sigh.... glad you enjoyed it and next time I am in town I shall check it out. very, very, very cool.

And your post above - I did notice when I was back in November that the streets I used to wander (like Market) seemed changed to me, more bike lanes, more bike friendly, more bikes. Hoorah!

Oh life...sometimes I think it is changing in good ways for all of us despite the news they tell us.

protorio/ though is a 'temp' space, I really like their open-ess and huge windows.

sansmith/ next time ill take more pics of the baggies &panniers they have. ud love them - they are super :D

sigrid/ oh yes, the whole town was sad to see stacey's go. it always makes me happy to hear from you and that posts n pics here n there bring you back home. market st. as well as many other busy streets & areas around the city are moving, slowly, but in the right direction. cheers ;)

woollen typist/ maybe if you twist it open, put a bit of oil n adjust it a tad, would help? bells are fun

andy k/ rite?! if we only also rode gracefully in snowstorms... he he

rat trap/ those are the bakfiets, there are a ton of pics ive seen from portland mostly, they seem like fun. n yea adrienne calls her bike the yacht, ive tried riding it, it is def. suitable LOL

lee/ oh we are eeeeeverywhere ;-) are u registering for the marin century?....lets ride soon